About
Articles by Mike
-
Celebrating The Garage's First Decade
Celebrating The Garage's First Decade
On Monday, April 14th 2025, we celebrated 10 years of impact at The Garage at Northwestern University at an event with…
23 Comments -
Why Impostor Syndrome is a Good Thing
Why Impostor Syndrome is a Good Thing
I have more than enough personal experience with Impostor Syndrome over my 10+ year career (or, what I like to call 3…
8 Comments
Activity
4K followers
-
Mike Raab reposted thisMike Raab reposted thisWe’ve known it at Northwestern for a while—now the wider world knows it, too: there’s no better place to be a student entrepreneur. This weekend, Northwestern University was awarded the Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award at the annual Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers - GCEC conference. The award is the highest level of achievement for university-based entrepreneurship centers worldwide. Thank you to the judges at GCEC for recognizing the impact of the work of the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, The Garage at Northwestern University, and Entrepreneurship at Kellogg. We’re also grateful to the students, alumni, faculty, mentors, staff, and other partners who together make Northwestern’s entrepreneurship ecosystem so successful. Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/gz5y9_MH
-
Mike Raab shared thisBest in America: ✅ (TIME/Statista, August 2026) Best in the world: ✅ (Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers - GCEC , October 2026) This weekend, Northwestern University was awarded the Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award at the annual GCEC conference, the premier recognition presented by the GCEC, signifying the highest level of achievement for university-based entrepreneurship centers worldwide. This recognition as the best entrepreneurship ecosystem at any university in the world recognizes the work of The Garage at Northwestern University, the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Entrepreneurship at Kellogg and our other university partners by our peers in higher education entrepreneurship. There is no better place to be a student entrepreneur than at Northwestern University.Mike Raab shared thisThis year’s GCEC Awards drew 100 submissions from university entrepreneurship centers of every size and location. Eleven of the centers we recognized had never won a GCEC Award before, and four of our winners came from outside the U.S. It was great to see so many centers represented this year. Behind each one is a team that put in the work to tell their story, and the awards are one of the best places to see how innovative our community is and how much it has grown. This year’s winners range from Central Wyoming College to Durham University to Université de Montréal. In honor of our 30th anniversary, we also introduced the GCEC Trailblazer Award, which recognizes early- to mid-career individuals who embody the spirit of our founders through their contributions to the growth of the GCEC network. Congratulations to the inaugural winner, Jeff Reid of Georgetown University. Congratulations also to Brad Burke of Rice University, this year’s Legacy Award winner. View the full list of award recipients and read the official announcement here: https://lnkd.in/ePbhWpcV Congratulations to all of the 2026 honorees. Durham University Venture Lab, Velocity, Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute at Arizona State University, Rutgers University, Central Wyoming College, Millénium Québecor - Université de Montréal, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, Flemming Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Kendra Scott Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute, The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute at Georgia State University, Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University of Tennessee, Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts, Florida State University - Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, ESPM Jeff Reid Brad Burke #UniversityEntrepreneurship #EntrepreneurshipEducation #GCEC #Innovation #BestInEntrepreneurshipEducation #HigherEd
-
Mike Raab posted thisI've always had deep empathy for founders in general, but running my own side hustle has deepened it even more for specific circumstances. *Prospective customers that you meet with and convey that they love your product and are going to buy it imminently... only to go silent for weeks, and respond to follow-ups with "Sorry I've been busy, hoping to get to this next week." *Scope creep of every customer wanting something just a *little* different, or one extra feature. It's easy to build (now), but how does that effect the product as a whole for all customers? *Meeting with people you know you could solve a problem for that just don't see it or prioritize having it solved for them. It's easy to coach someone else objectively from the sidelines when they're facing these scenarios, it's a whole different experience to feel the frustration and emotions that accompany them yourself!
-
Mike Raab shared thisOut of all the accolades and recognition that The Garage has received in 11 years, the most important to me is what our students think about it. Almost teared up at this quote: "The Garage is kind of like family. They really go out of their way to support you." From: https://lnkd.in/gs8E66RM
-
Mike Raab shared thisToday marks both 7 years since I joined The Garage at Northwestern University based in San Francisco and 4 years since I took the helm as executive director. The two reflections I have on this anniversary are: 1) Time flies when you're having fun! 2) I've never been more excited or optimistic about what's ahead!
-
Mike Raab shared thisWe're incredibly lucky to have Lilliana Robinson joining the team at The Garage at Northwestern University as our Director of San Francisco! Lilliana is not only an alum of Northwestern / The Garage, but previously led TechStars programs in Chicago and San Francisco, and I have no doubt will turbocharge our presence and initiatives in the Bay! Welcome to the team!Mike Raab shared thisIn 2018, I sat in The Garage's San Francisco space as a Northwestern student on a trip to the Bay Area. Today, I'm back at The Garage at Northwestern University, where my entrepreneurial journey began, as the new Director of The Garage San Francisco. That trip changed the trajectory of my career. Afterward, I returned to Evanston, founded two startups, became a Garage Resident, and realized that what I loved most was helping founders make progress. That led me to nearly six years in venture capital with Techstars running programs in Chicago and San Francisco, and now I'm back to where it all started. My goal is simple: any Northwestern student or alum should be able to have an idea in Evanston, get involved with us in SF, and quickly connect to a mentor, operator, or investor who can help move them forward. I've been on the receiving end of this network's generosity many times. Now, I get the opportunity to help others tap into it. If you're a Northwestern alum building a startup, or an investor or industry expert in the Bay Area who believes in giving first, I'd love to meet with you. Send me a message or come see me at Third Coast Foundry, our brand-new entrepreneurship space. And if you know a Wildcat who should be part of this community, tag them below!
-
Mike Raab reposted thisMike Raab reposted this9 days out. LeapYear planning to fund last cycle of builders for LY 2026. Looking for unusually ambitious builders ready to take a leap. We've funded 50+ teams in the last 2 years. 90%+ of those teams applied pre-revenue and they have gone on to raise $80M+ in follow-on capital. more at takeleapyear.com
-
Mike Raab shared thisVery excited to share that Yale University is the newest customer of Plop! Thanks to Abby Winslow and Emily Roller at Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale (Tsai CITY) for believing in our mission to connect student founders to funding opportunities. Abby Winslow is actually the person who inspired me to share Plop's opportunity board with other universities, and now Yale is joining Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, The Johns Hopkins University, Michigan State University, and University of Central Florida as happy customers! If you run a university entrepreneurship center and are curious why these incredibly institutions are trusting Plop, reach out!
-
Mike Raab shared thisMost founders will go wherever they're able to find early believers / capital when starting out. Chicago has work to do when it comes to the early-stage fundraising landscape if we want to keep talent here. We're building an angel network to connect more early-stage capital to our founders, regardless of where they're based. If you're a Northwestern alum interested in getting involved, reach out! https://lnkd.in/g9gxU63Z?
-
Mike Raab liked thisMike Raab liked thisPlease help spread the word! Applications for Class 3 of the Northwestern Medicine & Techstars Healthcare Accelerator close in just a few weeks. If you or a healthcare founder you know would be a great fit, drop me a note or send them my way. https://lnkd.in/geR95e_b
-
Mike Raab liked thisMike Raab liked this🚨 Calling all Northwestern founders, investors, and startup enthusiasts in the Bay Area! We're getting everyone together for our Northwestern Startup Community Kickoff on November 18! Come meet fellow Wildcats, check out our space at Third Coast Foundry, and hear more about what we're building at The Garage SF and how to get involved. 📍 Third Coast Foundry, San Francisco 🗓️ Wednesday, November 18 | 5–7 PM RSVP: https://luma.com/u19crhjf
-
Mike Raab liked thisMike Raab liked thisYou a Midwest based founder applying to speedrun or yc this weekend? Send me your app & I’ll give you 3 very direct comments to help improve. As a founder, Andreessen Horowitz was my lead. I’ve advised 100+ early stage cos, invested ~50, I run Techstars Chicago Accelerator, and see 2k accelerator apps/yr. I can give you constructive, honest notes before the deadline. Founders that know me know it comes no strings attached. logan@longchicago.com If you know a founder applying or considering applying, feel free to pass along.
-
Mike Raab reacted on thisMike Raab reacted on thisA quick plug for The Garage SF's Substack! 💜 For Northwestern alumni involved in the Bay Area startup community, it's where we share all events, news, founder opportunities, and ways to stay connected. We only send emails when there's something worth sharing. More to come soon! tgsf.substack.com/welcome
-
Mike Raab liked thisWhat an extraordinary experience it was to be on The Current, a podcast, with Texas State University's president extraordinaire, Kelly Damphousse and student entrepreneur extraordinaire, Donavan J Brown! President Damphousse asked me about my journey to TXST as well as my explanation of "getting your hands dirty" when learning the ins and outs of entrepreneurship. As a first-gen, I graduated from California State University-Dominguez Hills with a degree in Entrepreneurship, Small Business Management. The experience at CSUDH, go Toros, pointed me in the right direction, but at the time of my commencement, teaching entrepreneurship was all theory. It took me 14 years after graduation to start my own business. I just didn't get real world experience. With that, I was lucky to work as assistant director of the entrepreneurship center with director, Ryan Van Zee, Ed.D., mentor extraordinaire, at Dakota Wesleyan University. However, the curriculum was still mainly theory. We set out to change that and students started business and got their hands dirty. Then it was time to take the skills and insight I gained to Clark University, where I was the director for the entrepreneurship program. I fully got to put "getting your hands dirty" into play and started many exciting programs that launched student businesses. Thank you, Andrea Aiello, for saying yes more than no, even when I gave you gray hair. Now, here at TXST, the sky is the limit for no other reason than the stars have aligned. TXST students have more git and determination than I have ever seen in my life! Donavan is one of many! Alumni Bobcats love and support student Bobcat entrepreneurs with fierce commitment! Drew C. Lynch, Jeff Cuban, Scott A. Barnes, Kim Lynch, and Randy Haran to name a few! My ever achieving staff and student staff, Kendall Perkinson, Cadyn Perkins, Isabelle C., Grace Darcy, Anna Kaić, Diwas Pandit, Regina Bautista, Joel Davis, Kyla Tipton, Marlene Fuerte, Shoadi Henshaw, Tyson Rizzo, Peyton Bailey, and Bella Cisneros, support fellow entrepreneurs without question! And the TXST and the San Marcos community seem to always say "yes" to a student striving for their entrepreneurial dream. It is a great place to be!Mike Raab liked thisIn this episode of The Current podcast, President Damphousse sits down with Quinn Valentine and TXST student Donavan Brown to talk entrepreneurship, hands-on learning and Donavan’s work building drone swarms for search and rescue. 🎧 Spotify: https://ow.ly/GnzN50ZYbcl 🎧 Apple: https://ow.ly/LwzJ50ZYbco
-
Mike Raab liked thisMike Raab liked thisEarlier this year, after selling the business to Digi, I left Particle, the company I founded more than a decade ago. I left in May; now it’s October. Somehow I never quite got around to announcing that I’d left. I didn’t intend to keep it a secret; announcing it just felt daunting. There’s so much I want to say about starting, building, running, and selling Particle. I felt compelled to put it all into one post, as if only then could anyone understand my complicated feelings about moving on. Obviously that’s not going to work. I’ll save most of my thoughts for future posts, in the hope that they help other founders, and focus this one on the thing that’s been on my mind for the last few months: moving on. https://lnkd.in/e-tCZVCT
-
Mike Raab liked thisMike Raab liked thisThe listening tour continues as I continue to visit with every school/college at Northwestern. Last week, Provost Erik Luijten and I had an excellent day interacting with the faculty, staff, students of the Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management, one of the best business schools in the world with #1 MBA programs over the years. The conversation with prospective MBA students was fun too. I also enjoyed the construction site tour of the Ann Drake Center along with Ann M. Drake herself: it will be the best Executive Education center anywhere in the world.
Experience & Education
Honors & Awards
-
2022 Best Indie Book Award Winner in Entrepreneurship
Best Indie Book Awards
An international literary award contest recognizing independent authors.
-
2022 AXIOM Business Book Awards Silver Medalist for Entrepreneurship and Small Business
AXIOM Business Book Awards
2022 AXIOM Business Book Awards Silver Medalist for Entrepreneurship and Small Business2022 AXIOM Business Book Awards Silver Medalist for Entrepreneurship and Small Business
Issued by AXIOM · Jan 2022Issued by AXIOM · Jan 2022
The Axiom Business Book Awards are the largest and most respected critical guidepost for business books in today's new world of publishing.
Recommendations received
2 people have recommended Mike
Join now to viewOther similar profiles
Explore more posts
-
Darden-The Institute for Business in Society (IBIS)
We’re proud to highlight the leadership of Harris, Jared in setting a new standard for how business education integrates generative AI. As one of the Academic Directors of the Institute for Business in Society, Harris is reshaping UVA Darden’s core Strategy course to position AI as both a tool for efficiency and an agent of strategic insight. This fall, every first-year student will engage directly with generative AI as part of the curriculum, whether conducting research or interacting with an AI discussion agent that offers personalized feedback to strengthen their class preparation. Harris’s approach emphasizes that using AI is not just about understanding the technology but also preparing leaders to navigate its implications with integrity and judgment. “It’s crucial that students develop mastery about the subject, not just about how to write a ChatGPT prompt. In the age of AI it will be more important than ever to add human value and insight on top of anything AI may be providing as an input. That analytical mastery remains the focus of the course – strategic thinking and action.” 🔗 Read more about this transformative approach to business education: https://drdn.mba/4hTXaJD.
-
James Barrood
Great to catch up with two of the nation's finest ecosystem leaders, Melissa Medina, eMerge Americas [April 22-24] and Paul O'Brien, Founder Institute. * links to full convo and eMerge conference info in comments We discussed: 1. Their career journeys 2. Miami ecosystem 3. Austin/Texas ecosystem 4. Trends, opps and challenges 5. Outlook for 2026 Melissa has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, operator, investor, community leader and philanthropist. A native to Miami, she is CEO & Co-Founder of eMerge Americas with a mission of helping transform South Florida into a global tech hub. The eMerge Americas signature event, launched in 2014, is a global tech conference held annually at the Miami Beach Convention Center. With Melissa’s leadership, the eMerge Americas conference now attracts more than 20,000+ attendees from over 50 countries. In addition to the annual conference, eMerge organizes year-round executive summits, innovation challenges, startup pitch competitions, masterclasses, webinars, a world-class global accelerator program, as well as publishes venture activity and investment insights reports. Melissa is also a Partner at Medina Ventures, an early-stage venture fund, as well as the President of the Medina Family Foundation, which has a mission to fund local initiatives that focus on mentoring children and empowering families. Melissa was named by the South Florida Business Journal as one of the “2023 Power Leaders in Technology.” Melissa also sits on the Board of The Miami Foundation. She is passionate about transforming Miami into a global technology hub and supporting Miami-based non-profits who seek to empower tomorrow’s leaders. Most importantly, Melissa is a mother and most passionate about her 5 children. ------ Experienced in economic development, public policy, and venture capital, Paul O'Brien puts a focus on shaping the systems that enable entrepreneurship and innovation. He leads legislative and coalition strategy for Founder Institute, around issues impacting startups, capital formation, and civic infrastructure, and as publisher of STARTUP ECONOMIST. With a passion for media innovation and investment, Paul seeded MediaTech Ventures, a media industry venture development group. Former Venture Partner in Meaningful Ventures, O'Brien is Founder and Director of Funded House and Director of Founder Institute for Texas. Historically, a seasoned marketer with an early career at Yahoo! and HP. From there, Paul led the early growth of startups such as Outright.com (Acquired by GoDaddy), Zvents (Acquired by eBay’s Stubhub), and MicroVentures (Venture Capital). Paul has an unusually strong technical background considering the role he tends to play today; he built websites in the '90s and continues to engineer and produce content at seobrien.com. He was featured in the book, Online Marketing Heroes, and frequently speaks at startup and media conferences. #podcast #AFewThingsPodcast
2 Comments -
Keiretsu Forum-MST
Scholar Advising Podcast: Incubators teach founders. Accelerators speed them up. Angel groups decide where real capital goes. Listen to Christian Haller, VP K4-MST explain what angel groups really do, how Series A diligence works, and why collective investing can support $1M–$50M raises that individual angels simply can’t. If you’re considering early-stage investing but unsure how to start responsibly, start here. PART 1 of 2 Podcast. Stay tuned for more! #AngelInvesting #SeriesA #FundingInnovation #VentureCapital #Entrepreneurs Howard Lubert Juan Arango Barry Etra
-
Weston Ginn
I keep hearing that Florida doesn't have a real tech ecosystem. I've spent the last few months actively mapping it through the VC Lab Venture Institute, and here's what I've found: it's small, but it's real, and the people building it are serious. Sarasota and Tampa have a growing bench of early-stage investors like Florida Funders, Rework Capital, and Suncoast Venture Studio. There are accelerators like Tampa Bay Wave and Embarc Collective producing real companies. Groups like Bridge Angel Investors are creating structured ways for local investors to back founders. And there's a wave of founders who chose to build here instead of moving to SF. But there's a gap: true pre-seed capital is pretty rare in this market. Plenty of firms will write a $500K seed check. Few are writing the first $100-150K check to a founder with a prototype and conviction but no revenue. That gap is an opportunity. The founders I've been meeting here are technical, scrappy, and solving real problems in AI, robotics, and advanced materials. They just need someone willing to take the earliest risk. If you're building in these spaces in Florida or anywhere, I want to hear from you! #venturecapital #tampabaytech #sarasotabusiness #VCLab #emergingmanagers #AIinfrastructure
20 Comments
Explore top content on LinkedIn
Find curated posts and insights for relevant topics all in one place.
View top contentOthers named Mike Raab in United States
99 others named Mike Raab in United States are on LinkedIn
See others named Mike Raab